


Blood Over Water

by nofluxgiven



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Resurrection, fjord is just the narrator and he gets to learn things about intimacy by watching others, i really like writing combat u guys, i want to establish my cr brand around beau & caleb sibling fics, look i don't wanna get anyone's hopes up this is not about fjord and caleb, look resurrection fics are just. fanfic low-hanging fruit ok, nott uses a fantasy racial slur, this is my goal in life now, warnings: temporary character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 12:04:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18799987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nofluxgiven/pseuds/nofluxgiven
Summary: Resurrection fic.Caleb goes down. Fjord learns a little something about friends.





	Blood Over Water

**Author's Note:**

> look this isn't my crowning glory but it's finished and i'm not particularly embarrassed about it so i'm putting it out there. i might do another fic about a beau resurrection because resurrection fics are catnip to me

Caduceus was down, Fjord could see him on the other side of the acid pool. The shadow creatures had abandoned him when he stopped fighting back, apparently, except for one that was worrying at the shield still strapped to Caduceus’s arm. A wound on his head was bleeding sluggishly, but he probably didn’t have much time.

“Shit—mother—balls—“ Fjord swore just to make himself feel better. _Gotta find Jester_. He looked around the cave.

He had his back pressed against a wall, a pile of dog-like shadow corpses spattered in saltwater in front of him. The pile bought him some cover, a moment of peace. There was Beau, back to back with Yasha and grinning like a dumbass about it. On the far side of them was Nott, creeping around a rock with her crossbow up and oblivious to the beast creeping up on _her_. Fjord shot an eldritch blast at the thing and winced as three beasts rushing for Yasha turned to look at him instead. He had only a split second to find— _there_.

Jester had lost concentration on her duplicity and been cornered in the alcove where she had been hiding. Her spiritual weapon was whizzing across the room towards her, but it was too slow. He heard a deep _bong_ and one of the creatures dropped dead from her cantrip. A second later the lollipop plowed into another at ramming speed, splattering it against the wall. Fjord pointed his falchion and let loose two more blasts, barely looking to see if they had landed as he hopped between the inky black corpses littering the cave floor.

He nearly tripped as he swung his sword at one of the creatures around Jester and it passed through like butter. _Bong bong_ went Toll the Dead and Fjord blasted two more at point blank range.

“Jester,” Fjord yelled over the din, in the first moment to breathe. Jester glanced at him, but couldn’t afford to take her fiercely determined gaze off of the creatures for long.

“Jester,” Fjord said again, “Deucey’s down,” and he jerked his chin over towards the pile of iridescent armor that was their friend.

“Shit!” Jester squeaked. She tried a Healing Word as Fjord stepped up to the last shadow beast, giving her some space. When there was no reaction from Caduceus, her blue face paled. “Shit shit shitshit—“ she breathed, and hiked up her sleeves to get them out of the way of her shield. “Cover me,” she commanded Fjord, and took off across the cave.

Fjord lurched to follow. Beau caught sight of what they were doing, and elbowed Yasha to move back, drawing the beasts away. The tide of creatures had seemed endless, but they were down to the last dozen or two, it seemed. One more went down right next to Fjord with a crossbow bolt between its eyes, but Fjord didn’t stop to find Nott.

Jester dove and slid the last two meters on her knees. She had pulled a diamond from somewhere and was already muttering to herself. “Wildmother, I hate to bother you again but your friend is really not doing so good and we could _really_ —“ was all Fjord caught, said all in one breath.

The diamond started glowing in Jester’s hand and shattered into a million pieces when she slammed it on Caduceus’s chest. Jester gasped and her eyes flashed white-gold. Fjord couldn’t watch any further as two more beasts charged them, but he heard Caduceus’s gasp echo Jester’s and he knew it had worked.

Fjord swung, and the creature shrieked. Behind him Caduceus groaned, and Jester’s voice was a touch hysterical as she babbled, “That was really stupid, Caduceus, you really shouldn’t go dying like that, not like right in the middle of battle…”

“Sorry, sorry,” Caduceus said, right before Fjord nearly went blind when a swarm of spectral fairies engulfed him. Caduceus’s spirit guardians tore into the shadow creatures, who whimpered so pitifully Fjord almost felt sorry for them. Fjord breathed a sigh of relief.

Slowly, with Jester still supporting Caduceus and Fjord helping the fairies clear any shadow creatures that entered their range, the three of them inched their way towards Beau and Yasha. With every step more creatures were engulfed in and torn apart by the spirits, while Beau and Yasha hammered them simultaneously from the other side. The last creature tried to run but Nott slew it with a double-blast from the Tinkertop, and then stepped out into the open.

Fjord sagged in relief, and Yasha rushed to help Jester hold up Caduceus, though he was looking more himself by the minute. Beau took a steadying breath, and Fjord could see the adrenaline leaving her body, leaving her knees wobbly as cooked noodles.

Beau collapsed against a wall. For a moment, the only sound in the cave was six sets of ragged breaths. Until—

“Where’s Caleb?”

Nott’s yellow eyes were wide, reflecting the torchlight like a cat’s.

Fjord looked around. Where—?

He caught the wide-eyed look stealing over Beau’s face.

But where was Caleb?

Jester gasped, and Caduceus tried to pull away from Yasha, muttering, “Oh dear.” Where was—

Nott, seeing their looks, took off. “Caleb?” she called, then louder and more desperately, “Caleb?!”

She dashed around the room, nearly ricocheting off the walls in her search. “Caleb?!” Fjord pushed his suddenly aching legs into a run, and so did Beau. Fjord looked, and Beau looked, peering in shadows and between stalagmites, but no wizard. Then Nott’s wail shattered the silence.

Fjord dashed towards the chamber entrance, passing Caduceus and Yasha, and arriving to find Beau and Jester had gotten there first. Caleb was face down in the silt, eyes open and blank, large rents down the back of his jacket and obvious teeth marks in his shoulder and neck. There were two small scorch marks on the walls, and the fleece of Caleb’s coat still smoldered a bit from where he had caught himself. One shadow beast was crushed against the wall, maybe a catapult spell, but the creature who did this had obviously gotten away. Fjord stood, frozen, trying to make sense of it all.

Jester knelt over the body, chewing a hole in her lip in fear. Nott knelt at Caleb’s head, pushing his blood-matted hair out of the way, a litany of “My boy, my boy,” spilling from her mouth.

Caduceus and Yasha made their way up to the sad scene, and Jester whirled on them.

“Caduceus, your diamond.” She thrust her hand out at him.

Caduceus hesitated a moment, taking in the tableau in front of him, before gasping like a punch in the gut, “Oh…” His fingers were still trembling as he carefully opened up his belt pouch and pulled out a large hunk of translucent stone. Jester snatched it from his hand.

Caduceus’s diamond was larger than the one Jester had used on him, but uncut, so they had gotten it at a discount. Caduceus had said he thought it would still work for their purposes, but they weren’t sure. Jester pressed the diamond to Caleb’s back, and muttered her prayer to the traveller, and to any spirits who would help their wizard.

The diamond glowed, but didn’t shatter. After a moment, the glow dimmed.

Jester stared at it. “No, no, no no nononono—“ She pressed the rock in harder, muttering the incantation again in a frantic undertone. Again the rock glowed, but again the glow faded just was quickly. “What--?” she said, and the fear was starting to choke her up, bringing wetness to her eyes.

Fjord glanced around. Beau looked dumbstruck, and he saw creeping over Yasha’s face a look of resignation, like she had known this would happen eventually. Nott wailed to the high heavens, before turning on Jester with venom in her voice.

“You fix my boy _right now_ , you hear me? You don’t get to leave him in the dirt like this! You don’t get to choose who you—you don’t get to bring Caduceus back and then just _abandon_ —“ not railed, and Fjord could see the tears start to well over in Jester’s eyes.

“…Oh.”

Fjord glanced over, and yeah, that was Caduceus, but he didn’t sound shocked or heartbroken this time.

“Nott, no, I know what—we can fix this.” He too dropped to his knees next to Caleb’s body, with a heavy thump that suggested he had barely been staying upright. “Jester, would you mind…?” And he pried the diamond from her trembling fingers.

Fjord watched in fascination and budding hope as Caduceus drew a circle in the dirt around Caleb. He straightened Caleb’s body until it was centered in the circle, and hoisted himself to his feet with a groan so that he could stand at Caleb’s head.

“What is—is he cursed? What—“ Fjord asked.

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just been a bit too long. We’re going to try something different, and I’ll need your help with this, all right? Just a few people to talk to Caleb, convince him to come back. Maybe offer him something, you know. Does that sound alright?”

Caduceus wasn’t really looking at them, too busy preparing the final touches of his ritual. The others looked at each other.

“I’ll do it,” Nott piped up immediately. Her voice was raw, and rougher than usual from tears.

“No offense, Nott, but you’re not generally the most… convincing of us.” He glanced around at the others for support. “Remember the Bright Queen?”

“This isn’t some Crick, this is Caleb!” Nott said, lunging towards Fjord with her gnarled teeth bare. Fjord flinched, and beside him Beau winced.

“He might have a point, Nott,” Beau said. “Fjord, you’re the one we go to for talking, most of the time…”

Fjord shrugged, uncomfortable. “I can certainly try, if—“ he looked at Nott, who had shrunken in on herself as quickly as she had lashed out—“If that’s okay with you?”

Nott glanced around the circle, taking in their wary faces. She sank to the ground, hugging her knees. “Fine. You can try,” she conceded to the ground.

Caduceus had drawn three lines in the circle, emanating from Caleb and meeting the outer edge. So three people, maybe. Fjord looked at the others to ask right as Caduceus cut them off. “Ready to give this a try?” he asked, a soft smile on his face.

They nodded, and Caduceus closed his eyes and began an incantation. It was longer than the revivify spell that Jester had done, but after a few seconds, the circle in the ground began to gently glow, as did the diamond Caduceus held out above Caleb’s body.

Caduceus paused his words, and opened his eyes. His pupils glowed, the same as the lines in the dirt. He nodded for the first person to step forward.

Fjord did so. Careful not to step on Caduceus’s lines, he looked down at Caleb’s sprawled corpse. Caduceus had flipped him over, so his sightless eyes stared right past Fjord to the cavern ceiling.

“Um—“ Fjord tried, but had to clear his throat and begin again. “Um, Caleb—Caleb Widogast. Bren Aldric Ermendrud.” Fjord didn’t think he had butchered the pronunciation too badly, but he certainly didn’t sound Zemnian either. “I call to you as… as your friend. One of many friends who stand here, needing you.” He looked at Caduceus, who just maintained his beatific smile. “You—are a member of the Mighty Nein, and the Mighty Nein still has work to do. We need—we _rely_ on your spells, your intellect, your strategic input and your—occasionally _gods-damned annoying_ —ability to tell time.” He paused, but the chuckle he got from the others was weak and watery at best. Maybe not the time. “The Mighty Nein needs you, Bren. It is—your duty to come back to us. You have work to do.”

They all stood frozen a moment, in perfect silence. Fjord let his erect, commander’s posture sag, and stepped back from the circle. He glanced at the others; Caduceus had a note of consideration on his face, and Beau was chewing on her lip, looking uncertain, and not meeting his eyes. What--?

The line he had stood in front flickered, flickered—and went out.

There was a collective indrawn breath. Fjord reeled backwards, _What--?_ But before he had time to think Nott barreled into his shins, shoving him back, away from the circle.

“Caleb, Caleb my boy,” she began, her voice frantic, cracking and bloating with emotion. “You have to come back to us. You have to come back to me. I know we’re not always—I know it’s not always easy for you--” she was unpolished, unimpressive, even pitiable-- “but I _love_ you. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. Without Yeza, without Luke—” She swallowed, gasped in a breath past the lump in her throat. “You told me I could be what I want, that it was okay to leave them at home for a while, while I find out who I want to be. Well—“ a big snort past the snot and tears dripping down her face—“well, I want to be your friend. So.” She stepped into the circle, and clutched Caleb’s limp hand. She glared hard at him. “Come back to me, okay?”

She glared hard, not at Caleb but in his direction. Her grip on his hand was so tight that blood oozed weakly out of Caleb’s skin from under her long nails.

The second line in the circle flickered, then flared. Nott choked. Jester, still kneeling, seized Nott’s shoulder and squeezed, hard. Fjord realized he had forgotten to breathe, and inhaled sharply. He stared at his dark line in the dirt, as fear swelled in his stomach. He looked to the third line.

He looked around at the others, and caught Caduceus’s eye. Caduceus was looking in anticipation at the group. Fjord took a breath to ask the question, but before he could, someone behind him pushed past.

Beau. She looked both terrified and certain. He caught Jester’s look of surprise, but Caduceus just looked pleased.

“Caleb,” she said, and apart from the frog in her throat she sounded like she was trying to think of the most diplomatic way to scold him. Fjord caught himself about to snort but stopped, mildly horrified.

“I know that you and I have had our… disagreements. Yussa’s tower, Calianna’s bowl—well, I guess this isn’t really the place to hash it out, is it. But I mean—I’ve been thinking and, each of those times, we weren’t really—mad at each other. We were pushing each other. Pushing each other to understand, or to grow.” She wrung her hands in front of her and shot a glance at Caduceus, across the circle from her. She must have seen something in his satisfied smile, because she launched back into her speech, changing tacks. “I don’t know if I told you, but I found out a couple years ago I have a baby brother. Some toddler somewhere in the empire, getting pampered in all the ways I never wanted. But I never expected to—to feel it. Sometimes I imagine what my parents would think if they saw you, our resident hobo wizard, and knew I thought of you that way. And one day I’m gonna get the chance to really rub it in their faces. And you—you gotta be there for that—bro.”

The last word came out as a question, and beside him, Jester grinned through her tears. Even Fjord found himself moved. He had tried to teach Beau how to sound sincere for so long, he mused, but apparently she had it in her the whole time. In a back-handed sort of way.

Caduceus didn’t even look down to see the third line flash to life. The diamond in Caduceus’s hand shattered, the pieces flying in every direction then freezing in the air, so that they all remained suspended above Caleb’s body. Jester reached a hand out to clutch Fjord’s, neither of them looking at each other. The shards of diamond crumbled further, until they rained like sand down on Caleb’s body. A flash of green above his chest and his ribcage heaved outward, a thin pained gasp of air rushing into empty lungs. His back arched off the ground before he collapsed down again, and his eyes—sight returned to them—flickered to glance around the group.

Nott didn’t wait, she flung herself towards him and wrapped herself around his head in a tight embrace. Jester, voice still thick with tears, giggled and shook Nott’s shoulder. “Don’t _smother_ him, Nott!”

Yasha, hovering by Caleb’s head, just picked at her gloves nervously. Fjord noticed Beau slip back behind him. Caleb began to push himself up on his elbows, and Nott mostly let go of his face.

Caleb took in Nott’s slimy, tear-streaked face, and leaned forward to press his forehead to hers. He could only hold it for a moment before he had to let his head loll back, weak and battered from his experience.

Fjord noticed Caleb’s gaze focus on something behind Fjord’s shoulder, then look down. Behind him, he heard Beau fidget.

The ritual circle had gone entirely dark, now, but Fjord still knew which line was his. He glanced down at it, then turned away to give Caleb some space. He clasped Beau’s shoulder as he passed. Quietly, he muttered,

“Thank you.”


End file.
